Vatican newspaper decries ‘caliphate of brutality’; Mosul cathedral becomes mosque

July 24, 2014

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has removed the crosses from all 30 churches and monasteries in Mosul and converted the Syriac Orthodox cathedral into a mosque, according to the Assyrian International News Agency.

ISIL, also known as Islamic State and ISIS, took over Iraq’s 2nd-largest city in June and later ordered all Christians to leave, pay an unspecified tax, or convert to Islam. The jihadist group now controls 40% of Iraq and 30% of Syria.

According to “Caliphate of Brutality,” a front-page story in L’Osservatore Romano, ISIL’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, has ordered all women and girls within its territory to undergo genital mutilation. The Vatican newspaper also reported that ISIL earlier ordered “families to give virgin girls in marriage to jihadists” and segregated universities by sex.

 

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Further information:

• ISIS, Kurds Clash Near Assyrian Town, 2000 Assyrian Families Driven From Mosul (AINA)
• Califfato della brutalità (L’Osservatore Romano)